A Sea Change In The AFC East?

Earlier this week in a Quick Quiz, I asked which AFC East team was best positioned to take over the AFC East if Tom Brady did indeed take his talents elsewhere. Now, that is reality and not mere speculation. To demonstrate how significantly Brady dominated the AFC East, I went to check records, and if I have counted correctly:

Against the Bills, Brady was 32-3.

Against the Dolphins, Brady was 23-12.

Against the Jets, Brady was 28-7.

For the first time in about 20 years, it is not axiomatic that the Patriots will have the best QB in the division – – although that still may turn out to be the case because the music accompanying this QB carousel has not yet come to quiet. The Patriots will add to their QB roster in this off-season; the stats demand it. Here are the QBs on the Pats’ roster as of this morning:

Cody Kessler: He has started 12 games in the NFL. His teams are 2-10 in those games. He has thrown 2 TD passes and 2 INTs in those games.

Jarrett Stidham: He has never started in the NFL. He has thrown 4 passes in his career. He completed 2 of them and one of the others was a Pick Six.

I am confident that will change – – relatively soon.

Actually, I think that Pats’ fans should be equally concerned by three other free agency losses this week. Kyle Van Noy and Ted Karras signed on with the Dolphins and Danny Shelton will play for the Lions next year. None of those three will ever be considered the GOAT at their position, but all three proved to be solid starters last season.

I do not want to comment on the myriad free agent signings in a piecemeal fashion but there is one other move that is worth noting. Jason Witten will not play for the Cowboys next season; he has signed on with the Raiders. Witten is not nearly the player he was, but he is still a reliable possession receiver and he ranks 4th in the NFL in total pass receptions for a career. Witten has caught 1215 passes in 16 seasons in the NFL. The three guys ahead of him in terms of career receptions is a distinguished list:

Jerry Rice

Larry Fitzgerald

Tony Gonzalez

The other interesting twist on that free agent signing is that Witten will be playing for Jon Gruden – – the guy he partially replaced in the ESPN broadcast booth for Monday Night Football. Wheels within wheels…

Meanwhile, the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs has shut down in response to the coronavirus outbreak and some momentum is beginning to build to postpone the Olympic Games scheduled for this summer in Japan. Obviously, the Japanese do not want to do that and the IOC position for the moment is that it is “fully committed to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020”. Given the history of the IOC as an organization of high honor and persistent truth-telling, I believe that statement about as far as I can throw a piano – – with one hand. Bob Molinaro of the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot had this observation about this matter in a recent column:

“Reality check: Don’t mean to be callous, but postponement or cancellation of the Tokyo Games wouldn’t ruin the summer. We got along fine without the Olympics the past three summers, didn’t we?”

Moreover, we got along without the Olympics in 1916 due to the ravages of World War I and we got along without the Olympics in 1940 and again in 1944 as World War II was being contested. Added to that, there were faux Olympic games in 1980 when the US boycotted the games and then again in 1984 when the Soviet Union effected its own boycott.

Because I do not view the coronavirus as apocalyptic or as a sign of the end times, I think the IOC should give serious consideration to changing “Olympic Games Tokyo 2020” to “Olympic Games Tokyo 2021”. I suspect that is far too simplistic a suggestion for the great minds in charge of the “Olympic Movement” to deal with.

Yesterday, I mentioned that the Congress of the United States has pending legislation called the Horseracing Integrity Act. Demonstrating the knowledge, insight and profound wisdom that legislators at every level of governance can bring to bear on sports and athletics, please consider this:

The Legislature for the State of Florida proclaimed the Florida State University men’s basketball team as the 2020 NCAA National Champions.

Isn’t it good to know that all the problems facing society today as they impact on Florida have been resolved fully and satisfactorily? If those jamokes have even a microsecond to devote to something that abjectly silly, it must be the case that there is nothing more important for them to do.

Finally, here is an entry taken from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Dentist: A person to whom you provide boat payments as a way of thanking him for sending a shooting pain through your entire central nervous system.”